Proud ( But not TOO proud )
by No1fan15
Summary: Joseph has a surprise to show Caesar. Caesar just hopes it isn't like the last one.


"Oi! Caesarino!"

Caesar suppressed an eye roll at the nickname and looked up from where he'd been meditating. He'd hoped to have some semblance of peace today but knowing how life was around Joseph such a feat was likely impossible. He stood and crossed his arms. "What is it, JoJo?"

"Check this out!" Joseph said excitedly. He held out his clasped hands as if he were holding something. Caesar raised an eyebrow. Something unrelated to their training, he assumed. There was less than half a month left before their fight. It would do them both good if Joseph spent less time fooling around. Nevertheless the downright gleeful look on his face was intriguing. Caesar opted to play along. There was always some kind of trick with Joseph and maybe they'd get a decent sparring match out of it.

"What is it? Another pigeon?" Caesar said. Joseph laughed.

"Don't act so cold, Caesar. Besides, that would never work on you now." he said. "This is new! Unexpected! Shocking!"

"In the same way your "wine splash" was?" Caesar said. It was easy to recall that disaster. Joseph had snuck a bottle of Lisa Lisa's wine into their training session and attempted to use hamon to force the contents down Caesar's throat. He'd reasoned afterwards that it would get his opponent drunk instantly and throw them off. Caesar had informed him that alcohol didn't work like that once he'd stopped choking.

"Nothing like it! I swear!" Joseph insisted. He pouted and his voice changed to a whine. "Come on, just trust me on this one! Pretty please, my little Caesar?"

"So long as you never call me that again." Caesar said. Joseph held his hands up higher.

"Got it, Caesarino!" he said gleefully. Caesar resisted the urge to retort and sighed.

"Alright. What's the surprise?" he asked. Joseph beamed and opened his palms. Sitting in the middle of his hand, no bigger than a golf ball, was a bubble. It was giving off a faint aura of energy and Caesar knew it had been made with hamon.

"Ta-da! See! I told you!" Joseph said proudly. "It's just like your bubble launcher! You're not the only one who can use it now!"

"…. Is this why my bottle of soap went missing?" Caesar said. It was the only thing that came to mind. He wasn't about to tell Joseph he was proud of him, even if a single bubble was impressive for someone with Joseph's capabilities. Not to mention the fact that since the soap had vanished a couple of days ago he obviously hadn't had too much time to practice. He'd kept up with all their training so he must have been using what little spare time he had on it. There was also the odd warm feeling that came with knowing Joseph had picked HIS technique to copy. Imitation was the sincerest form of flattery after all.

Joseph had enough sense to look sheepish about the soap theft.

"Well, uh…" he said. "I can't exactly return it."

"You owe me, then." Caesar said. "It's specially formulated and not cheap."

"I see… anyways!" Joseph said, swiftly changing the topic, "What d'ya think? Pretty good, right?"

"… I suppose so." Caesar said. Joseph's face fell. Obviously he'd expected more. Caesar attempted to save the conversation. "Considering you did it by yourself. I wouldn't have expected anything after a week."

"And this was just two days!" Joseph said. His mood seemed to have picked back up. "In a week I could beat you at your own game!"

"I doubt it." Caesar said with a laugh. "It would take years before you could even stand a chance."

"You wish! I bet I could beat you right now!" Joseph exclaimed. The cocky smirk on his features was familiar by now. Caesar felt very tempted to return it. No doubt Joseph had some master plan forming on how to win their match using his single bubble. As much as he wanted to find out what said plan was Caesar knew they'd been distracted from their schedule for long enough.

"I'm sure you would try. But – you really should get back to work before Lisa Lisa catches you slacking off." he said.

"It's not slacking off if I have something to show for it." Joseph protested. As if on cue the bubble in his hand popped. He stared at the now empty space it had been in. "… Now that's not fair."

"I'll show you how to make proper ones later." Caesar said. He had no idea when he'd have the time to fulfill that promise but the smile he got from Joseph made it worth it.

"It's a date, Caesarino!" Joseph said. Before Caesar could protest he had run off.

"Stupid englishman…" Caesar muttered. He took up his meditation stance once more and tried to concentrate. That warm feeling from earlier has returned and it was very distracting. Why was he feeling this way? Was it because of the friendship he had with Joseph? The deadline getting closer? That self confident grin that hardly left Joseph's face? Whatever it was it was an issue. Caesar sighed and let his eyes open halfway.

That dumbass didn't even need to be near him to disturb his peace. Of course.


End file.
